This invention relates to electrical connectors.
Many types of electrical connectors, such as the edge card connector, include a plurality of compliant pins, or leads, protruding from an insulating housing. In order for the leads to be inserted accurately into the holes in a board or backplane, it is necessary to keep them properly aligned with each other and with the holes in the board. The present method of maintaining this alignment is to comb the leads into place, and then insert them in holes in a thin plastic sheet such as Mylar.RTM..
While this technique is adequate for most present connectors, future designs will require a denser array of leads. In such cases it will be difficult to provide a comb small enough to fit within the spaces between the leads while, at the same time, rigid enough to hold the alignment for insertion in the Mylar.RTM. sheet.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a means for aligning the leads of an electrical connector.